First and foremost, the cyber threat environment is intensifying dramatically. Concerns about the misappropriation of financial and personal data while important have been supplanted by the spectre of an even larger and more devastating threat. Cyber attacks on critical infrastructure manufacturing plants, power stations, aviation systems, transportation networks, water systems and even nuclear facilities are the new reality in Europe. And new vectors of attack are being launched against political parties and electoral systems as national elections loom in France, Germany and the Netherlands in 2017.
Second, while this dynamic is unfolding, the regulatory environment in Europe is about to change profoundly. The European Union has adopted a sweeping General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will impose significant new obligations on industry and its handling of personal data. The Rapporteur assigned by the European Parliament to lead the final negotiations on the EU GDPR, Jan Albrecht, announced upon its passage in the summer of 2016: The GDPR will change not only the European Data protection laws but nothing less than the whole world as we know it.
Third, these two developments beg the question of how prepared businesses are across Europe. To assess their state of preparedness, Marsh conducted a broad survey of 750 European clients. The responses suggest that, while progress has been made, a significant journey remains. If, as we anticipate, cyber breaches begin to fill the headlines of the major European newspapers in 2017, management teams will be pressed, as never before, to address concerns from data protection authorities, supervisory boards and journalists about their state of preparedness. Rather than waiting until 2018, companies must work to confront this looming challenge now.
As trusted cyber advisers, FireEye and Marsh & McLennan each a leader in its industry have collaborated to produce this report to help organizations in Europe avoid this perfect storm